Opinion May Day

The incumbent Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) earned generous praise for succeeding in giving Pakistan its first democratically elected government to last a full term. Najam Sethi wrote in The Friday Times’ March 22 edition: “The first elected parliament and government in Pakistan’s 66-year history have completed their mandated five-year term and gone home. This is a great achievement. Generally speaking,it means that our political elites have finally recognised the value of setting and playing by the core rules of the game of electoral democracy. A clutch of constitutional amendments — empowering the PM at the expense of the president,empowering the Election Commission of Pakistan and the judiciary at the expense of the executive,and empowering the provinces at the expense of the Centre — with the help of the opposition is testimony to this. More specifically,it means that the civilians have realised that conspiring with the military to undermine one another for short term political gains eventually hurts all civilian projects and thwarts stable nation-building.”

RETURN OF THE NATIVE

Former Pakistan president and army chief Pervez Musharraf announced his return to his country to participate in the May polls. He announced his plans at a press conference earlier this month in Dubai but hasn’t landed in Pakistan yet. He is expected to get an unpleasant welcome in the form of a police arrest because of cases pending against him,the most serious charge being that of conducting the Lal Masjid Operation in 2007,for holding the constitution in abeyance and imposing the Provincial Constitutional Order and of his involvement in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

Dawn reported on March 18: “‘I am arriving in Pakistan on March 24. I need your support,’ Musharraf said on his Facebook page early Monday,but lawmakers demanded his immediate arrest.” Dawn also carried excerpts from an interview Musharraf gave to a New York tabloid,Metro,where his confidence was high. “If you listen to commentators,they will tell you that my party does not have the internal structure to fight an election. It is simply not true… some major political players are just waiting for my return to offer their support. There are a number of people and organisations that I call floaters in Pakistan,and my return will bring hope to them and the chance to work together. Only I can do this. Many people are clamouring for me to return. I would say I have a 50/50 chance of success,” he said.

CRIPPLING PAKISTAN

DUE to the violence perpetrated against WHO-appointed polio camp workers by religious extremists in several parts of Pakistan,cases of polio are on the rise. That isn’t Pakistan’s only worry. Daily Times reported on March 22: “Pakistan faces risk of travel sanctions after June 2013 if the polio virus is not eradicated from the country,the director general of the health department,Nisar Cheema,has warned.”